A Taranaki woman sick of stray cats in her neighbourhood is disgusted she's been asked to catch and kill the pests herself.
Lois Parker says the SPCA told her they don't catch strays, and to contact the Taranaki Regional Council instead. Staff there told her they could supply a trap, but it would be up to her to deal with any cats she caught.
But she says she can't afford the $75 the vet would charge to euthanise each cat, so would have to "bop them on the head, cut their throat" to get rid of them.
The Waitara resident says she's disappointed in how the SPCA is handling the situation.
"I've already donated to them and everything else. I won't be donating any more, and I don't think my neighbour will be either."
The council says it doesn't have the time or money to deal with stray cats.
Ms Parker's cat conundrum come as Conservation Minister Maggie Barry is pushing for feral cats be caught and killed, instead of neutered and rehomed.
"I would like the SPCA to stop doing that because if you capture a cat, spay it and release it often what happens is they find a little supermarket for cats, which are the bird sanctuaries," she said yesterday.
New Zealand First has its claws out though, with deputy leader Tracey Martin saying killing stray cats is not the answer.
"Cats are a problem, but rather than go and kill all the cats, let's put up some actual funding into double-fencing," she told RadioLIVE.
The party's leader Winston Peters is calling Ms Barry a "cat hater" over the proposal.
"I can quite imagine why Maggie Barry is a cat hater, and there is a certain type of personality that it takes to be that," he told Newstalk ZB.
Ms Barry also wants limits on the number of cats people can take home from the SPCA – but Prime Minister John Key's not so keen.
"The Government isn't going to limit the number of cats people can own."
3 News
source: newshub archive
